NATO's eastern nations want better protection from alliance

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By STEPHEN McGRATH AND NICOLAE DUMITRACHE

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Nine NATO nations on the alliance’s eastern flank held talks Friday in Romania ahead of a key NATO summit later this month, with some leaders urging NATO to step up protections for them in light of Russia’s protracted war against Ukraine.

Friday’s summit in Bucharest provided a platform for NATO’s Eastern members to discuss regional security issues and forge a united voice within the 30-member security alliance. Those attending included Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

“We need to make sure that NATO is able and prepared to respond effectively and calibrated to the threats it faces,” Romanian President Klaus Iohannis told reporters after Friday’s meeting. “The alliance needs to be able to defend every inch of its territory.”

“The result we are pursuing is a consolidated NATO presence on the Eastern Flank, united and coherent, robust, credible and sustainable, especially on the Black Sea — the most exposed to Russia’s threats,” Iohannis added.



From left, Slovakia's Ambassador to Romania Karol Mistrik, Estonia's President Alar Karis, Latvian President Egils Levits, Polish President Andrzej Duda, Romania's President Klaus Iohannis, Bulgaria's President Rumen Radev, Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda and Hungary's President Katalin Novak attend the Bucharest Nine (B9) Summit at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, June 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-klaus-iohannis-bulgaria-bucharest-419787bd3b22492102124586393d8892

[msongs]

1. well hungary the putin lover should not be in that group nt

[elleng]

2. Right

[IronLionZion]

3. Some US Republicans want to bring Hungary's authoritarian model to the US

Because saying they want the Putin model would be too obvious

[Rebl2]

4. That's a big NO!

[Lonestarblue]

5. Ukraine is running out of ammunition for its old Soviet era weapons.

I doubt any other country has a stock of much of these ammunitions. Ukraine needs NATO help now, not in a few weeks when some new weapons reach them, weapons they’ve never been trained to use. Allowing this war to go on by parcelling a few weapons out to Ukraine at a time seems senseless. It’s time for the UN to form a force to help Ukraine. I keep thinking of George H. W. Bush and the UN forming a coalition to kick Iraq out of Kuwait. Kuwait was not a NATO member yet NATO members came to their aid. Why is Ukraine different? Yes, yes, Putin has nuclear weapons and Iraq didn’t. What’s the likelihood that his generals will follow orders to launch a nuclear attack knowing that retaliation from the West would be swift and it would not target Ukraine. It would target Russia itself.

It’s either call the bully on the threat or watch as millions more Ukrainians die needless deaths and perhaps millions around the world face severe famine. It is inhumane to refuse to stop this war when it is within NATO’s power.

[Marcuse]

6. Putin has veto power over the UN Security Council.

[ripcord]

7. Right now the largest number of NATO troops are in Poland

Germany has the next largest number of troops, mostly American, and they will not want them to leave. Not because they fear of a Russian attack but because they enjoy the economic benefits all those military and civilian workers bring.